New Tub and Faucet

Another amazing Craiglist find; thank goodness people in the Denver area use it regularly. I did not see so many and such variety of offerings when I lived in Arizona. Although it seems that most of the city’s best deals are in the southern and eastern suburbs, there are several near Arvada as well. Searching Craigslist is kind of an art in itself since the categories are open to interpretation and often items I look for under “materials” which are mostly building materials although sometimes actual sewing material is posted, often wind up in other categories.

This tub and faucet were in General for six days by the time I happened upon it. Luckily it was still available and I was able to snag the deal. The tub was advertised as “porcelain” but I could not get the seller to tell me if it was cast iron. He only said it was “about 100 pounds” which could not be cast iron. On the other hand, he didn’t think it was fiberglass. I thought maybe porcelain on steel? But he was wrong. It is molded plastic/acrylic, probably over a fiberglass shell, but still a very expensive tub. It has some scratches that I think can be buffed out. Getting it into the truck was harder than 100 pounds worth. We had to tip it on its end and drive the truck under it to lever it up onto the bed. I’d say it weighed more like 3oo pounds!

Craigslist Tub

When our friends the Hallas visited they wanted to help with the house and we asked them to help carry in the tub. So here it sits in its approximate place in the Master Bath. It is a little wider than I planned for, about 33 inches wide and 68 long. I have room for the length but might have to extend the wall outward to make room for a shower door. As it is placed now, the shower door could be 24″ wide, which is really OK, but I prefer at least 32″ between the shower and tub. I may raise the tub on a small platform to move it a bit further away.

Tub in Master Bath

The tub is nice but the faucet alone is worth far more than I paid for both. It is a solid brass and chrome Kohler Antique Floor Mount faucet that retails for over $1700 new. It was missing a knob though and I thought no problem, I would buy a set of inexpensive Pfister replicas. But when I realized the quality of the faucet, I decided to look for the actual replacement part. WOW! I finally found a discounted one on ebay for $92. The faucet also came with the tallest of the chrome risers–another $300 retail. They are missing the bases but I’ll come up with another base option, it will be behind the tub anyway.

Freestanding faucet with new handle

As long as I was shopping for the handle I looked for the matching sink faucet. It retails for a whopping $883.85! ($750 on Amazon) But Amazon had an “open box” version for $200 and I ordered it. I even got the six inch $24.95 escutcheon plate included. Plus it came with the drain.

Matching bath faucet

Although an expensive combination, paying about $400 for these items is quite a bargain.